Email Marketing
Putting your best strategy forward
By Chris Skoyles
Done well, a successful email marketing campaign can reap huge rewards for your business, bringing in new customers and raising awareness of your products and services much easier and much cheaper than traditional avenues of marketing.
Done badly however, a few misplaced messages can have a seriously detrimental impact on your business.
Naturally, the one method of email marketing you'll want to avoid at all costs is the oft-reviled practice of spamming; that is, sending out your information to all and sundry without a second thought as to whether they need, or even want it.
Indeed, sending out spam emails will win you few friends and even less sales. So how exactly can you effectively market your business via the wonder that is electronic mail?
Add a Signature
Most email providers these days offer the option of including a signature in all your outgoing email. This allows you to place a few lines of information at the foot of your message that will automatically be sent out along with each message.
Signatures are a quick, effective way of promoting your business via email, especially in instances of bulk email marketing / direct email marketing, where you have little opportunity for customizing emails. If you have a website, your web address is perhaps the most essential piece of information to include in your email signature. You could also include your phone number, and a brief message, perhaps describing your business or any special offers you have on going.
Make sure to keep it brief though. A short and sweet signature has a much greater than one that is half a page long and puts people off reading it.
Try Opt In Email Marketing
Opting in essentially means that existing and potential customers agree to receive emails from you when you have a new product or service to promote, a special offer or anything else you may wish to tell them about that would otherwise usually be classed as spam.
There are a number of ways to get people to opt-in, especially if you have a website:
Mailing Lists
Set up a mailing list and use it to send monthly newsletters with information about your business, products, services, special offers and anything else that you can think of.
A quick search on Google for free mailing list programs' will give you all that you need to get started. Simply sign up, post the appropriate code into your site and visitors will now have the option of giving you their email address and signing up to your mailing list.
Forms on Your Website
You can also ask people to opt in through contact and order forms on your site. When people get in touch with you to make an inquiry or place an order online, naturally you'll ask for their email address so that you can reply to them. Why not ask them to opt in and receive your newsletter at the same time?
Creating Great Email Marketing Copy
So, you've got a list of email addresses from people happy to receive marketing messages from you. Now, just like you would with any traditional method of marketing, you need to make sure that your copy is effective, enticing and convinces people to part with their cash.
If you can't afford to employ a full-time copywriter or advertising guru, and aren't confident about your own skills as a marketing expert, consider hiring a freelance copywriter to create your captivating copy for you. After all, just as you wouldn't put any old drivel on a poster or sales letter, your email marketing campaign should be equally as sharp, snappy and, above all, professional as any marketing strategy.
